New Living Translation
Jeremiah 51:31
31The news is passed from one runner to the next as the messengers hurry to tell the king that his city has been captured.
Jeremiah 51:31 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,
- New International Version (NIV)One courier follows another and messenger follows messenger to announce to the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured,
- English Standard Version (ESV)One runner runs to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to tell the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every side;
- New King James Version (NKJV)One runner will run to meet another, And one messenger to meet another, To show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides;
Context of Jeremiah 51:31
29The earth trembles and writhes in pain, for everything the Lord has planned against Babylon stands unchanged. Babylon will be left desolate without a single inhabitant. 30Her mightiest warriors no longer fight. They stay in their barracks, their courage gone. They have become like women. The invaders have burned the houses and broken down the city gates. The news is passed from one runner to the next as the messengers hurry to tell the king that his city has been captured. 32All the escape routes are blocked. The marshes have been set aflame, and the army is in a panic. 33This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Babylon is like wheat on a threshing floor, about to be trampled. In just a little while her harvest will begin.”
Read all of Jeremiah 51Jeremiah 51:31 word by word
רָ֤ץ לִקְרַאת־רָץ֙ יָר֔וּץ וּמַגִּ֖יד לִקְרַ֣את מַגִּ֑יד לְהַגִּיד֙ לְמֶ֣לֶךְ בָּבֶ֔ל כִּֽי־נִלְכְּדָ֥ה עִיר֖וֹ מִקָּצֶֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jeremiah 51:31
- Jeremiah 4:20Waves of destruction roll over the land, until it lies in complete desolation. Suddenly my tents are destroyed; in a moment my shelters are crushed.
- Jeremiah 50:24Listen, Babylon, for I have set a trap for you. You are caught, for you have fought against the Lord.
- 1 Samuel 4:12A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefield and arrived at Shiloh later that same day. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head to show his grief.
- 2 Samuel 18:19Then Zadok’s son Ahimaaz said, “Let me run to the king with the good news that the Lord has rescued him from his enemies.”
- 2 Chronicles 30:6At the king’s command, runners were sent throughout Israel and Judah. They carried letters that said: “O people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he will return to the few of us who have survived the conquest of the Assyrian kings.
- Esther 3:13Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.
- Esther 8:10The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. Mordecai sent the dispatches by swift messengers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king’s service.
- Job 9:25“My life passes more swiftly than a runner. It flees away without a glimpse of happiness.
- Jeremiah 50:43The king of Babylon has heard reports about the enemy, and he is weak with fright. Pangs of anguish have gripped him, like those of a woman in labor.
- Isaiah 21:3My stomach aches and burns with pain. Sharp pangs of anguish are upon me, like those of a woman in labor. I grow faint when I hear what God is planning; I am too afraid to look.
- Isaiah 47:11So disaster will overtake you, and you won’t be able to charm it away. Calamity will fall upon you, and you won’t be able to buy your way out. A catastrophe will strike you suddenly, one for which you are not prepared.
- Daniel 5:2While Belshazzar was drinking the wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 51:31
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31One post shall run to meet another - As the city was taken by surprise, in the manner already related, so now messengers, one after another, were dispatched to give the king information of what was done; viz., that the city was taken at one end. Herodotus tells us that the extreme parts of the city were taken, before those of the center knew any thing of the invasion. Herodot. lib. 1 c. 191.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31The royal palace was a strong fortification in the heart of the city. The messengers thus met one another. At one end - Rather, from all sides, entirely, completely.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 31The king was Nabonidus. At that time, he was in Borsippa, north of Babylon. His son, Belshazzar, was the regent in Babylon. See Daniel 5:1–30.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3131. (See on Jr 50:24). One post--One courier after another shall announce the capture of the city. The couriers despatched from the walls, where Cyrus enters, shall "meet" those sent by the king. Their confused running to and fro would result from the sudden panic at the entrance of Cyrus into the city, which he had so long besieged ineffectually; the Babylonians had laughed at his attempts and were feasting at the time without fear. taken at one…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 51:31
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 51
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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